Page 9 of Rules, Roses, and Rivals
I rolled my eyes as he set offwithmy bag.
Dammit.
I hurried after him. “Archie…”
“Hey look,” he said, a slow grin on his lips. “You remembered my name.”
“Don’t be an ass,” I grumbled, refusing to laugh at the smart-ass tone. It was so Archie.
“Can’t help it, babe,” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “I was born to be an ass.”
I snorted, about to protest again when I realized he was heading on a direct route for my next class. “Coop gave you my schedule.”
“I’ll never reveal my sources.” His smirk, however, was one hundred percent Archie. I wanted to punch and hug him in the same moment. “Now,” he said when we were at the classroom door. “Lunch?”
“No promises.” I took my bag from him. “I want to see how Mathieu is doing and it’s his first day.”
A muscle twitched in Archie’s jaw. “Bring him with.”
After this morning? “Are you serious right now?”
“Yes,” he said, locking his gaze on mine. “Say yes, Frankie.”
“How about I’ll think about it?”
“That’s yes,” he murmured, releasing the bag and when I raised my brows, his grin grew. “It’s yes, but you’re not letting me off the hook. See you at lunch.”
He strode off before I could say anything and I stared after him. What the hell had gotten into him? Into all of them? Had they always been so…
“Hey,” Bubba said and I swallowed my irritation to pivot and face him. He really was the only one I’d had any kind ofconversation with over the summer. Even if dropping into his birthday party at Archie’s place had reminded mewhyI’d been so angry with them and their double-standard.
“Hey.”
“I saved you a seat.” He motioned for me to go ahead of him and sure enough, he had parked some of his stuff on the desk next to him. “Thanks for being in the class still. Not sure I’ll make it through without you.”
Right. We’d discussed doing this together last spring. Before…
“Sure,” I said with far more cheer than I was feeling. Archie’s behavior had always been…over the top but thisfeltdifferent. He was mad. No matter how he tried to cover it.
Math blew past us and I caught Bubba’s grimace at the homework. Thankfully, he didn’t kidnap my backpack or follow me to my next class. It was French. Madame was one of my favorite teachers, but Mathieu was also in it and to my absolute delight, serving as the TA.
The warmth of his smile boosted my mood and chased away some of the grief from earlier. It even helped when Rachel Manning claimed the desk on my other side. She was so—relaxed.
Considering how abrasive she could be, we had a kind of like-hate relationship. That same bluntness, however, had opened my eyes and… “Hey Rach,” I said by way of greeting as I sat down.
“Bonjour,” she replied in the most Texan way possible, horrible accent and all. I cracked up and some of the tension choking me all day evaporated.
I got a couple of minutes with Mathieu after class. “Archie has invited us to lunch with the guys. We don’t have to join them…”
“Of course not. Madame, however, and a couple of the other French teachers have asked me to join them for lunch. I believe they want to talk about France and more. I can change it…”
Okay, I was a little jealous. I never got invited to lunch with the teachers. Except, it would give me time alone to deal with the boys and maybe that would be better. Fighting with them was hard enough. Fighting with them in front of Mathieu was worse
“Don’t. Getting to know them is important too,” I told him. “And I have work this week. So, I know we’re both going to be busy at times.” I’d already given him my schedule. “But I can share you with others.”
He chuckled, flicking a glance around before he dropped a kiss on my lips. A sigh went through me. PDAs were not always okay in the halls, but none of the teachers were looking our way.
With a caress of his fingers, he nodded. “If you want to avoid them some more, you can come to lunch with me.”
